Collapsible trestle



Sept. 25, 1928. 1,685,283

- J. P. GIBSON, I

COLLAPSIBLE TRESTLE Filed March 17, 1927 I ga'ue nto'o -/?Ms 675500 GMMI Patented Sept. 25, 1928.

'aAMEsr. GIBSON, on natives; ab te- O GOLLAPSIBLE TR-ESTLE.

P Application filedlilarchli',1 927... Scriaiito: 175,994}

i This invention relates trestles more pa -r 'ticularly of the small,portable type used for supporting benches and tables .in banquet halls,mcss "halls andthe like, and, while particularlyadaptable to this use,will also be found. valuable for use by carpenters, paper hangers andsimilar mechanics, for supporting'their work; Y i p The principal.object'iof the invention is to provide a trestle of this type,.tl1clegs of which may be easily folded upon or disconnected from each 3other-so that the entire trestle will occupy but a minimum of spacefor-shipping, transportingfor carrying, and which,whenferected, w-i'llbefirm a-nd solid.

, Another objectiof 'theinvention is to pro vide aleg structurefortrestles whichmay bev quicklyv applied to any cross piece to" form acomplete trestle without the use of tools, bolts, nails and screws.

A further object is toprovide a, clampin g construction which willcause'thelegs to act as levers to grip thecrosspiece' andfirmly lockcomplete trestle into a. unit struc tare-. I x

Other objects and advantages reside inthe 'Jdetail construction of the;invention, which is designed for simplicity, economy,and eiiicien cy.These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is hadto the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like numeralsrefer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout thedescription.

In the drawing; I v r Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a complete trestleemploying one form of my invention,

Fig. 2 is a perspeetiveview of the legs of Fig. 1 in the dis-assembledcondition, 7

Fig. 3 is an end view of atrestle employing an alternate form ofinvention. I

Fig. 4 is a. detail perspective view of an upper leg extremityillustratlng a second alternate form of the invention.

Fig. 5 isa fragmentary end view of a trestle illustrating a thirdalternate form of the invention. V

In the preferred form of the invention the body or cross piece of a.trestle is indicated at 10 with a pair of legs 11 and 12 supporting eachextremity thereof.

Each of the legs 11 and 12 is pro-videdwith a sheet metal clampingmember 13 bolted to its upper extremity as shownv at 14c. The

- 1 Adja-centjthe lo ncn'iber l3 is provided with a clamping fac f5IOarranged-at an angle to the axis of the":

leg and terminating at its lower edge in-fa shelf orledge '15. and atits upper edge'i'na hinge inemberl6. Thesidesof themember 13, engage theedges-of the legsandarejproback of the legs. of opposite legs arejoin'ed across the top of, the cross p1ecejl0 byineans -ofahinge vided"with cars 17 which extend acrossy-the f flhehinge members] 16 plate 39;which connects .with} the hinges 1" through the,medium.of reinovablehinge .b'ins l8. Y .a

v 'wjer. eirtremityof each. leg 12, a hook member- 1-9 18 secured which11- g'z-iges an eye 20 on the leg l-l Alturn buckle 121 is incorporatedin eachof the hookflmem ers19. i

The legt constr-uction is-siich thatanycon;

venient 2sx trti nber ,may- .be empl oyed-lfor the cross p ece 10,.mwhicli case. the hinge plates BO- are placedacrossthe top, of the 2 Xtandth e'legs 11 and .12 brought downward each side thereofl ntil theledges pass under the cross.piecefl O The; hooks 1 9 .are then engagedin the:eyeIetsQOiand the turn biickles 2T are tightened. .This resultsin 'forci'ng the clamping faeesAO; of the members 13; firmlyagainst,the-sidesof the cross piece so asto prevent any looseness or 1vibration. 1

As the turn buckles are tightened, the upper extremities of thev.legstendto move out i wardly. This outward movement is resisted bytheears 1'? wh ch engage the outer face of the legs. It is preferred tonotch the cross piece 10 and set the hinge plate 39 in this notch sothat it will not project above the top of the cross piece 10, asshown'at 22, Fig; 3..

In Fig. 31 have illustrated an alternate.

form of my invention which, however, 'employs the same clampingprinciple of the hooks 19 and turnbuckles 21.. In this form a clampingmember 23 engages the sides only of the legs by means of cars 24.

The clamping member 23 1s bolted as.

'shownat 25 adjacent the upper extremity of the leg and carries a. hingemember 26 con-' 1 nee-ting with'the hinge member26 on the op: posite legby a hinge plate 27. The lowerpartof the clamping member 23 is curvedinwardly asishown at 28 to engage across piece 29, thence outwardly asshown at 30 to engage the' leg, thenceinwardly to form a" shelf or ledge81 under the cross piece. The

clamping member is preferably, but not necessarily, formed: of springsteel or similar resilientmaterial so that it will first engage thelower portion of the cross piece and then be drawn to a. snug engagementwith both the cross piece and the leg'by means of the. turn buckle 21.

1 In Fig. 4 a second alternate form is shown somewhat similar to thepreferred form. In

this form, however, a sheet iron cap 32 is employed which passes acrossthe outside of the leg and turns inwardlyat each edge be attached.

. thereof to form cross piece supports 38. The

' cap 32 passes over the top of'the leg and terminates in a hinge member34 to-which any ofthe previously described hinge plates may In Fig. "5still anotheralternate form of the invention is illustrated- This formis .more economical to manufacture and employs the turnlbuckie and hookpreviously described; In this form an extension hinge is arranged toextend across the top of a cross piece 36 and the tops of the legs 11and 12,

and downwardly on the outside of each of the legs. On the inside of'thelegs angle blocks 37 are placed to cause the legs to angularlyproject'from the faces of the cross piece. If desired, ledges 38 may beformed on the blocks37 to support the cross piece,' ho'w'ever,

of the "legs immediately before attachment.

the c'la-mping' action of the legs is usually sufficient'to maintain thecross piece in po-- sition. In brokenline in Fig. 5 the position to thecross piece is indicated.

*While specific forms of the improvement have been-described andillustrated herein, it

is desired to be understood that thesame may be varied, within'the"scope of the appended at their one extremity; projections for lllalntainingsaid legs at an angle tothe faces of said cross piece;",and meansfor causing saidlegs to approach each other at their other extremitiesso as to cause said projections to be clamped against said cross piece.

2. Collapsible trestle legs adapted tolsup's porta cross piececomprising a pair of legs;

a hinge connecting'said legs with each rother, at t-llelfOlie extremity,said hinge-arranged to pass over said cross pieceya ngular faces on saidlegs adapted to contact with the sides of said cross piece; and meansfor clamping said angular faces against said ci'osspieca f 3. Acollapsible trestle comprising across piece; a hinge plate arrangedto'later'all-y cross the upper face of'said cross pieceyco- Y actinglegs hinged one to each end of each of said hingeplates; clampinginemberscarri'ed by said legs and-adapted'to engage opposite sides ofsaidcross piece; means arranged to draw the'fi'ee extremities of said(Jo-acting legs toward each other so as to cause said clamping membersto grip said cross piece; and'pro ections on said clampingmemtween saidlegs.-

.bers adapted to support said cross'piece ben testimony whereof, aflixsignature.

; JAMES Pi eI soN; f

